What Is Right
by luckycomet09
Summary: Charlotte Lily Potter just wanted to rest, but she should have known that would have been too simple, too mundane a task for the Girl-Who-Lived turned Master of Death. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Just an idea I've had running through my mind. It'll fully incorporate Ironman, Ironman 2, and The Avengers; and key moments will be shown during The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America.**

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE: OF DEATH AND SECOND CHANCES**

The war against Voldemort ruled over all; it was bloody, gruesome, and the sad reality of their world. After Dumbledore's crushing defeat, the Dark Lord wasted no time in striking the rest of the magical community quick and hard. The Ministry crumbled at his feet, and hundreds of homes were laid to ruin.

Charlotte, Ron, and Hermione did as they were tasked and journeyed to find all of Voldemort's horcruxes. Hindered, with the greatest of targets painted on their backs, it took them more months than they cared to admit to track down the souls.

The turning point came after they retrieved Hufflepuff's Goblet from Bellatrix's Gringotts vault. It happened when Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix herself captured them – Griphook's betrayal cost the trio the life of Ron Weasley.

After that, everything seemed to shoot by: Dobby sacrificing himself to transport the two heartbroken girls to the last stronghold at Hogwarts, the witches destroying the cup and the tiara with basilisk fangs recovered from the Chamber of Secrets, Neville beheading Tom's pesky snake with the Gryffindor sword, and Hermione throwing a portkey at Charlotte's unsuspecting body right as the killing curse headed her way.

The last thing Ms. Potter saw before arriving in the Death Chamber was the resolute magical school going up in flames.

Voldemort eventually tracked her down, finding her sitting on the steps leading to the ominous ragged black veil. She sat in her torn black armor and her cloak ripped to shreds, simply fiddling with a familiar ring with an odd smile on her dirtied face.

"The Girl-Who-Lived finally ready to die?" Tom sneered at her small form.

Charlie just smiled a knowing smile and stood up with little ease, favoring her left leg and clutching Draco Malfoy's wand. "I've been ready for a while actually." The smile left Voldemort's face. "But there's one thing I need to do first."

"You think you can defeat me? As we speak my followers are rounding up the last of the survivors you abandoned on the battlefield. Those fools who believed in you are going to die knowing their sacrifices were in vain!"

The teenage paused, before surging ahead. "Did you take into account the backup heading in from Romania? Yeah, Bill and Fleur went to the dragon reserve there… you've heard of dragons right? Big, scaly, insane fire power."

"Lies!" Voldemort growled.

Shaking her head, Charlotte grinned, "Unfortunately for you, it's not." She noticed as Tom's grip tightened on the Elder Wand, straining the wood beneath.

"No matter. I'll finish you here and break their spirits with your broken, dead body. You won't be leaving this room alive!"

And thus, the final duel began. Spells flew, and curses hit with minimal damage; Charlotte did her best, but her wounds inevitably caught up to her. It simply took a well-timed banishing curse to throw the girl into the peak of the arch supporting the death veil, causing her to crash in a sickening crunch on the stone below.

From there the Dark Lord easily picked her up in a chokehold, eyes gleaming with delight. "How ironic will this be for you to die just like that pitiful godfather of yours. I hoped to kill you with a simple Avada Kedavra, but this seems so much more befitting."

Charlotte clawed at the arm with her remaining good hand, but seemed to give up as her body grew limp. "Say hi to Dumbledore for me."

And that's when Charlie made one last move. While travelling around the lands with Ron and Hermione, they hadn't squandered their time. The three studied whatever they could get their hands on, experimenting with different spells, potions, and even wandless magic. As such, when Voldemort shoved her back, she waved her hand and silently summoning him to her.

Charlotte Lily Potter got the last smile as the last two horcruxes faded into darkness.

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

She should have guessed that her time wasn't really up after falling through the Veil of Death. No, that would have been too simple, too easy, for the Girl-Who-Lived.

It went without saying that Charlotte was pissed when Death appeared instead of her friends and parents.

"What now?" Charlie complained, bending her arms in a defensive position across her chest. They stood, well she stood while Death just hovered in the air before her, in complete whiteness.

"…Master…" Death answered, the raspy voice reverberating though the witch's mind.

"Master." Charlotte deadpanned. "You have got to be kidding me."

This time, a series of images filled her head, "her always trusty Cloak of Invisibility hiding her body from view… the Resurrection Stone revealing itself from within the golden snitch… the Elder Wand held fanatically within Voldemort's grasp."

A weary sigh left the 17 year old's mouth. "So I guess the legend is true, having all three in one's possession makes them the Master of Death… but what if I don't want to be?"

"…I'm sorry…"

The witch seemed to fold in upon herself in sadness, her emerald eyes losing its tiny spark of life. "So what now?"

Pictures of what looked like the muggle world flashed through her brain, "…this dimension…" faces of what Charlie assumed to be important people, "…too much death…" one figure rose to the forefront of the scenes, "…_he _is coming…"

"What am I suppose to do?" the girl asked.

"…protect…defend…"

Charlotte Potter shook her head in denial, her black locks swaying side-to-side, "Please, I'm tired, I'm too tired." She looked down at her worn hands, clenching them as she recalled the horrific war she just fought; too many lives were taken, so many families were destroyed. "I can't fight anymore. Please… just let me rest."

But Death faded away as darkness took over once again, and as Charlie drew into unconsciousness she heard Death's parting words, "…I'm sorry…"

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

Charlie woke up in the middle of soft grassy plains.

In the beginning, she just laid there, unable to comprehend the situation Death landed her in. She finally fulfilled the prophecy that haunted her since before her birth, lost over half her friends in the process, and now she was expected to protect hundreds of people in the so called 'other dimension'. It wasn't fair.

But nothing was ever fair in her toilsome life, and that one fact gave her the strength to push back her conflicting emotions and get up.

The landscape painted a familiar picture, with a large blue lake to the east and a towering dark forest to the west, all that was needed was the homely castle of Hogwarts. But there was none, and Charlotte concluded Death really did transport her to a new reality – one apparently without a wizarding world.

Looking down at herself, Charlie wasn't surprised to see that her wardrobe changed. She wore casual blue jeans and a simple white shirt, but the real pieces of interest were what could only be her invisibility cloak hanging from her shoulders and a silver ring with what had to be the resurrection stone on top. Seeing this, she checked her forearm and was greeted to the sight of the cursed elder wand held firmly in the grasp of her holster.

"If only you could see me now," Charlotte whispered aloud, wondering what Ron and Hermione would think of the mess she managed to land herself in this time. Ron would probably sigh hearing of her new 'Master of Death' status, but then laugh and claim they had to test out her new toys. And Hermione would have already come up with a strategy plan of sorts, taking all factors into consideration.

But they weren't there with her, and she knew they never would be. Sure, she could chance using the resurrection stone, but she figured that specific Hallow would do more harm than good.

Heaving a heavy sigh, she studied the immediate ground around her and noted a small red backpack. Opening it, she found only two things: a huge stack of British pounds and a shrunken broom. Ignoring the money, she took out the broom and wandlessly enlarged it. A small smile lit Ms. Potter's face when she revealed her beloved Firebolt.

"I missed you!" she exclaimed. Quickly mounting it, she soared through the skies in seconds. Twisting and turning and diving, a part of her heart lifted with some peace. It had been so long since she last felt the comforting wind upon her face.

Unfortunately, the adrenaline couldn't last forever, and eventually her feet landed smoothly on the ground with her broom shrunk again. She placed both it and her cloak inside the bag and hefted it upon her back. With one last wistful look around, she spun on her heels and apparated out.

For two months she prepared for this massive destruction Death had alluded to. She brushed up on her magic studies and managed to get use to using the immense power of the Elder Wand. She practiced going wandless, and even worked on her physical fitness level. She was ready for anything and everything, but nothing happened and no evil being appeared.

Time continued to go by, and Charlie became more and more depressed. She was still mourning, she was immensely lost, and she had no freaken idea what she as suppose to do.

It was only by chance that she came upon a postcard which picture she vaguely remembered seeing in the presence of Death. She saw this as a sign from fate, and having nothing to lose, gathered what little possessions she owned and apparated to a sandy beach in Malibu, California.

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

Charlotte, the teenage witch, celebrated her 18th birthday alone inside a small café named "The General's Café", ordering a small cup of hot chocolate and a slice of angel food cake.

She sat there in silence before a large old man jolted her out of her thoughts and took the seat opposite her.

"Is it the cake?" he asked Charlie in a deep gravely voice. "My wife always complained that I never added enough sugar to it, but I argued she had a major sweet tooth no sweet could ever satisfy."

"The cake?" Charlie repeated looking a bit lost. She looked down at her half eaten slice and frowned, "I don't—"

"Or perhaps it's the hot cocoa?" the blonde man pressed through. "Since this is California and the middle of summer I don't typically get this order. Actually I never do. I just put it on the menu because it was my wife's favorite drink." He glared down accusingly at the liquid. "She always complained about how I made that too."

Charlotte gave the man a befuddled look, and scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "I'm sorry sir, but what exactly are you talking about?"

The old man gave her a questioning gaze before answering, "Well little lady, you've been sitting here for the past two hours and have yet to make a dent in both the cake and the drink. Usually I take this to mean you are dissatisfied with them."

"Oh, no!" Charlie was quick to appease the man. "No! Not all! The cake is heavenly, and the hot chocolate is think and rich. I like them both!"

"Then what seems to be the problem," he asked not unkindly.

"I…" the girl looked down, "I don't know.

The General of The General's Café heaved a heavy sigh. He had sat down at the little missy's table because he recognized the distraught look of a fellow soldier.

"You know I fought in a war once," he informed the girl, meeting her deep emerald eyes as she looked up in surprise. "Yes, I was a Major General in the army of the United States of America. I fought, killed, and saved lives with these two bloodied hands of mine for over 30 years. When I finally retired, I was so lost. I spent over half my life fighting and didn't have a clue what to do after all the fighting ceased. Not only that, but I had to deal with the fact that many of my close friends were lost in battles while I somehow managed to survive."

"How did you… recover?" Charlie asked, her fists clenching over her thighs as flashbacks to her own war ran through her mind.

The General grinned and pointed to a picture hanging on the wall behind the countertop. "That lovely lady over there."

Charlie studied the picture from afar. She looked like a kind lady with short honey blond hair and shimmering blue eyes. "Your wife?"

"The love of my life," the old man admitted with such devout affection in his tone Charlie couldn't help but blush a little.

"How did she heal you?" Charlie wondered.

The owner of the shop grinned. "My whole life all I knew was the battlefield, the skills to fight were all I understood and all I had. Sarah showed me the other half of the world we live in. She took me skiing in Canada, sky diving in Hawaii, we watched the ball drop in New York City, and we even exchanged kisses in front of the Trevi Fountain. It's because of her that I discovered my love of cooking, managed to graduate culinary school, and opened up this small café. She gave my second chance."

"I'm not really sure I understand," Charlie confessed.

"How about I put it like this," the General mindlessly scratched his chin. "Before Sarah, the only purpose in my life was to serve my country. And I loved it, defending my country and all the people within it never failed to fill me with accomplishment. But when everything was over, I lost the sole purpose in my life. Without it, I had nothing to drive me, nothing to push me to my limits."

"So Sarah became your new purpose," the teenager concluded.

"Wrong." He smiled in her face. "Sarah _showed_ me my new purpose."

Charlie gave the old army officer a hopeful look, "Can I know what it is?"

The General heavy a mighty chuckle, "Sorry little lady, but knowing my new goal in life wouldn't give you much help. Everyone must discover their own purpose with their own two hands."

"Right..." Charlotte admitted sadly. She stirred the chocolate in her mug for a few seconds before saying, "Can I ask you how you got over the death of your friends?"

He gave her an empathetic look, which went unnoticed, as he said, "I didn't. Everyday I remember them. They say time heals all wounds, but I don't really find that to be true. Some days the pain would be calm like a summer's breeze, while others the pain would weight on you like 50,000 pounds.

"But William Penn one day wrote: "They that love beyond the world/ Cannot be separated by it/ Death is but crossing the world/ As friends do the seas/ They live in one another still." So as I live for myself, I live for them too."

A brilliant smile lit up Charlotte's face as her heart settled a little more at ease. The weight on her shoulders, she never noticed before, lessened immensely. She may not have gotten many answers, but the proof that she would one day recover sat right before her, and that was enough for now. "Thank you," she beamed.

The General smiled back and said, "The name's Christopher William Hayes, but you can call me Chris."

"Well then, thank you Mr. Hayes," Charlie giggled as he frowned at the address. "My name's Charlotte Lily Potter, but you can call me Charlie."

"Well then Charlie," General Hayes stated, pushing back from the table and slowly stretching his stiff appendixes. "Finish up that succulent piece of cake while I heat up the rest of your chocolate."

"You don't have to," Charlie protested.

"Nonsense! How's it suppose to be hot chocolate if it's not even hot!?"

As he left with her mug in hand, she ate a bite of cake and thought to herself. Chris Hayes was right, this world of theirs was immense and there was so much to learn, so much to discover. Sure, she could just wait and prepare for this so called war to happen, but she deserved to have a chance to live her own life, for herself and for her friends as well. She resolved then and there to study, uncover, and do as much as she could until that moment came to pick up her wand again. This was her second chance at life and she wasn't going to waste it!

"Oh," Chris smirked as he set down the remade mug of hot cocoa, "And I expect you to arrive here exactly at 0800 hours."

"I beg your pardon?" Charlotte's head whipped around.

"The mornings fill up pretty quickly here at The General's Café so prepare yourself for its fast pace. Lunch is pretty relaxed until about 2 o'clock, then I believe it's even worse than breakfast! Dinner isn't too bad, just some regulars, maybe a couple of tourists. One time even—"

"Wait!" Charlie interrupted, holding up a hand. "You're giving me a job?"

Chris's brown eyes stared, "Obviously."

"But you don't even know me!" Charlie argued, brushing a hand through her long ebony locks.

"You're Charlotte Lily Potter."

"You know what I mean!"

Chris laughed at her flustered face, but calmed himself after watching her quickly desponding look. "I may not know you Little Lotte, and you don't know me either, but I trust you. As I see it, us old war folk gotta stick together… not that you're old of course." He peered closer at her face. "Actually you don't look a day over 17."

Charlie blushed and mumbled, "I turned 18 today."

Mr. Hayes stood dumbfounded. That girl with such haunted eyes was just 18 years old, only a teenager, basically a baby! He could only imagine what she had been through in such a short amount of time.

Shaking his head, Chris gave the tiny girl a gentle smile. "Well then Happy Birthday Little Lotte! This meal's on the house in celebration, but I still expect to see you exactly at 8. Till tomorrow!"

And so, after her second day in the city of Malibu, California, Charlie found herself with a regular job. Five days a week she had a blast helping Mr. Hayes and Hunter Mathews, the only other worker, run the café. She loved the normalcy of it all! She improved her cooking skills through the critical eye of Hayes, learned how to take and deliver orders from Hunter, listened to about a hundred war stories, and discovered a newfound love of reading. She finally understood why Hermione read as much as she did—there was so much you could learn from written words!

A week into her new employment, she left the hotel she'd been staying in and rented an apartment space close to the café. She felt bad about using a small confundus charm on the realtor since she didn't have the credentials necessary, but she did give him the correct amount of money; turned out Death just brought over all her galleons from her old world and converted them into the currency of whatever country she lived in. She was basically set for life.

When school started up again, Charlotte began travelling during her two days off. She got the idea from a movie called Jumper; she would find a picture of the place the wished to journey too, study it, then apparate away. Soon enough, a collage of colorful postcards littered one of the walls in her living room, and souvenirs from every city were found scattered throughout her two-bedroom living space.

For once in her life, Charlotte Lily Potter felt at peace. Sure, there was that looming sense of doom and destruction for the future, and the war and deaths of her friends still pulled at her heart, but Charlie finally felt like she was living a normal life.

Months passed with these feelings, and it wasn't until fall came that anything terribly exciting happened.

Who knew that so much could change simply after running to in a personal secretary named Virginia Potts.

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**Well that's it for Chapter One! Please tell me what you guys think =] Any suggestions are also welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO: OF MEETINGS AND FRIENDSHIP**

The first time Charlie met Pepper Potts was an accident.

She was running around a street corner, attempting to make it to her job on time, and managed to plow straight into the famous secretary. It wasn't too bad a collision, just some bruises and maybe a small scrap or two. To her credit at least, Charlie did jump up right away and apologize, handing the lady back her fallen planner and Blackberry.

Unfortunately, neither had the time to start a real conversation since Pepper had an important meeting she needed to drag Tony Stark to and Charlie had less than a minute to make her shift in time; so the first meeting ended with a simple, "I'm sorry!" and "Goodbye."

It was the second run in with Ms. Potts that led to their imminent friendship.

The General had given Charlie the day off so she decided it was the perfect time to check out the Topanga State Beach. She thought she picked an un-hailed taxi, yet she realized her mistake when a voice simultaneously stated with hers, "Stark Industries if you wouldn't mind!" "The Topanga State Beach please!"

That meeting would have ended right then and there if the greedy driver hadn't managed to convince Charlie to stay, arguing Stark Industries was on the way to the beach anyway.

It took five minutes of uncomfortable silence for Charlie to finally call upon her Gryffindor bravery and introduce herself, saying, "Hi, I'm Charlie."

"Virginia Potts," the secretary nodded in greeting. "But you can call me Pepper."

Charlie tilted her head, "Pepper?"

"It's a nickname my boss gave me," the strawberry-blonde smiled. "He had made a mistake on his accounting document and I went to his office to inform him of it. When his bodyguards wouldn't let me in the room, I threatened them with pepper spray."

Charlie laughed at the lady's sheepish expression. "That's brilliant! I've never had much luck with nicknames myself," she admitted, thinking back to her Hogwarts's life. "The-Girl-Who-Lived", "Undesirable No. 1", "The Chosen One", and "Scarhead" were not names she really appreciated.

"Wouldn't Charlie come from something?" Pepper wondered.

"Charlotte," the 18 year old grimaced, "way too girly of a name if you ask me! Fortunately, one of my best friends bequeathed 'Charlie' to me; found it hilarious especially whenever his older brother Charlie was in the same room as us."

"Charlotte's a nice name," Virginia Potts disagreed. "Though I can see how Charlie suits you. You look more like the adventure type girl than anything."

The witch shot her a deadpanned look. "You have no idea."

The rest of the conversation continued along similar lines and, to their surprise, both were dismayed when the yellow car arrived at Stark Industries.

"You should visit The General's Café," Charlie told Pepper as the secretary moved to get out of the vehicle.

"The General's Café?" Pepper repeated, internally making a note to remember the name.

"Yes ma'am," the girl nodded. "And I would recommend Thursday's around 2 o'clock because that's when Happy Hour begins."

Pepper Potts's grinned. "I'll have to check that out then."

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

"I don't understand why we're here," Charlie complained from outside Tony Stark's house. She lent uncomfortably against the side of the open door, making her height of 5'4 appear quite shorter. "I thought we were going shopping?"

Since that ride in the back of the taxicab, Charlie and Pepper had become great friends. Both knew it looked a bit weird, seeing how Charlie was only a little older than half Pepper's age, but neither cared. The two ladies found somebody they could easily talk with and get along with, someone they were comfortable around. Rarely did they find areas of controversy.

"I told you," Pepper called from one of the inside rooms, "I forgot some paperwork that I'll need to look over later tonight."

"This lady needs to get her priorities straight," Charlie muttered to herself, fully aware that Pepper was like Hermione before Charlie and Ron got their hands on her. "Can't you just take one night off? I don't see how it could hurt."

Pepper's redhead popped around a corner to shoot the girl an indignant glare.

"Right," Charlie appeased. "My bad."

The secretary studied her for a few more seconds before stating, "I'll be a couple more minutes. Why don't you come in?"

"Right," Charlie repeated. She watched as Pepper disappeared again and looked down at her feet. Walking into Mr. Stark's threshold seemed worrisome to the girl.

She had heard a lot about the man from watching the news, listening to Pepper's complains, and trying to ignore Mr. Hayes's singing praises, and overall, the way people described the genius's attitude seemed eerily similar to the way people described her father's own attitude before her mom got to him: pompous, clever, boastful, rebellious, and somewhat of a bully; because so, she decided to save judgment until she met the man face to face herself.

"Mr. Stark's not here," she heard Pepper say, as though somehow reading Charlie's mind. "He's at a Board of Director's meeting and won't be back until late tonight."

Instead of thanking Pepper for clearing her troubled mind, Charlie instead answered, "Ok, ok you troublesome woman! Don't get your knickers in a twist!"

Laughing at the anticipated disgruntled shout, the witch calmly stepped over through the front door. "Good afternoon Ms. Potter. Welcome to the home of Tony Stark."

Charlie jumped a mile into the air, glancing nervously around her. Spotting no one, she hesitantly called out, "Pepper… no one's here besides us right?"

"There shouldn't be," Pepper answered, confusion coloring her voice. "Why?"

"I beg your pardon ma'am. It was not my intention to scare you." The British accented voice spoke yet again. "My name is JARVIS. I'm an AI developed by Mr. Stark to help run the house."

Moving her hand away from a bracelet that hung a shrunken wand, Charlie casually wiped some beading sweat off her forehead. "Of course, AI, I knew that."

"Certainly ma'am." Charlie couldn't tell if the program was mocking her or not.

"Ah," Pepper stated, coming into the room when her last question went unanswered. "I see you've met JARVIS."

"Yes," Charlie nodded, running a hand through her long black hair. "He caught me by surprise."

"Ok," Pepper said dubiously, shifting the papers cradled in her arms. "Well give me five more minutes then we'll hit the Aventura Mall." She headed back through an open doorway, leaving Charlie alone once again.

Not one to not take advantage of exploration, Charlie gave a marauder worthy grin and shot out to see what made Mr. Stark tick.

Walking around, she had to admit Mr. Stark had a pretty fine taste in art and decorum, though she knew Pepper had something to do with the design. The home setting seemed very open and free flowing, but the lack of personal pictures had Charlie wondering upon Stark's family life. And as glorious the marble flooring was, the girl imagined it could get quite cold and lonely inside this home of his.

"I am sorry ma'am," JARVIS spoke up as Charlie headed toward some step leading downstairs, "but you are unauthorized to be in that area."

Sighing, Charlie nodded in acceptance and instead took a careful seat on a section of the couch. "Hey JARVIS," she spoke up a minute later, "can I ask you a question?"

"If it's within my parameters to answer."

Taking his response as a yes, the green-eyed witch continued, "What are your thoughts on Tony Stark?"

There was an obvious pause before JARVIS said, "I think he is a stubborn, sometimes questionable genius, who tries to do what's best for his father's company."

"So he's just trying to fit into his father's shoes," Charlie read between the lines.

"Precisely Ms. Potter," JARVIS agreed. "Can I ask a question myself?"

"Sure," Charlie smiled, finding amusement in conversing with a virtual being; she could only imagine if Mr. Weasley was there with her now.

"There are no records of a 'Charlie Potter', none that match your profile anyway." A feeling a dread ran down Charlie's spine as a worried expression filled her face.

"Who are you really?"

Shaking her head, Charlie started to respond, but luckily Pepper saved her day.

"Charlie, I'm ready to go now!"

"Coming!" Charlie rushed to her savior. The two quickly left the house, but not before Charlie called over her shoulder with a huge grin on her face, "Talk to you later JARVIS!"

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

"Happy Birthday Miss Pepper Potts!" Charlie joyously shouted out, catching the attention of all customers in The General's Café. Heedless of the redhead's embarrassment, she placed a cup of Zebra Mocha in front of her as well as a slice of red velvet cake with a single candle on top. "Don't forget to make a wish!"

Blushing lightly, Pepper did as she was told. Closing her eyes, solely for the benefit of Charlie, she scrunched her face before quickly blowing out the candles.

Charlie then led a precession of claps, smirking at her friend's obvious discomfort. "So what did the old lady wish for?"

"Better friends," Pepper sarcastically remarked.

"Ouch!" Charlie cried, clutching a hand to her heart. "That hurts Pepper, that really hurts." A slap on the teenager's head, courtesy of Chris Hayes, brought the girl out of her skit. "Hey!"

Mr. Hayes ignored his annoying employee and smiled kindly at the birthday girl. "Happy Birthday Ms. Potts. I hope you're having a great day."

Pepper grinned back. "No complaints yet."

"I hope you don't mind, but I got you something," Mr. Hayes said, bringing a small wrapped box out from behind his back. "And your meal of course is on the house."

"You really didn't have to," Pepper shook her head, hesitating to take it from his grasp.

"Nonsense. And if it makes you feel any better, I didn't pay anything for it."

"Cheapskate!" Charlie coughed behind his back, earning another slap on the head in response. But she shook it off and held her breath, watching with avid eyes as Pepper uncovered a dazzling necklace. The chain was a simple sterling silver, but the three diamonds that hung from it were anything but.

"Wow," Charlie managed to get out. "I take back my last comment."

Hearing Charlie's voice brought Pepper out of her stupor and she very carefully, and very quickly, returned the necklace to its box. "I can't accept this."

"Sure you can," the General rebutted. "It's easy."

"But it much have cost a fortune!"

Mr. Hayes eyes just twinkled. "I gave that necklace to Sarah on our 20th anniversary. It's been collecting dust for years. I know you'll put it to good use."

"But—"

"It was either you or Little Lotte over here," Mr. Hayes gave the final word, "and I doubt she'd even know how to wear it."

"I resent that," Charlie pouted.

"Well then… thank you," Pepper said appreciatively, getting up to give the barista a heartfelt hug.

"Well, I have more people to greet, coffee to serve, but Happy Birthday once again Ms. Potts," Mr. Hayes said before leaving the two ladies.

"That was awfully kind of him," Pepper told Charlie as they both sat down in their usual seats.

Charlie pondered the thought and replied, "Nah. He just has a soft spot for Tony Stark and every who associates with him."

"Right…" Pepper slowly nodded her head. After four months of knowing the two of them, she still didn't understand the relationship Charlie and Mr. Hayes had. And she thought her own relationship with her boss was complicated.

"So what have you done today?" Charlie asked as she drank some of her green tea.

"Bought that dress I was eyeing the last time we went shopping, took out Mr. Stark's trash, finalized some of his things, then sent him off to Afghanistan for a weapons presentation. Nothing too strenuous," Pepper informed her friend, silently moaning with the deliciousness of the cake.

Charlie frowned, "Weapon presentation?"

Pepper, in turn, placed her fork down, "You really don't like his job do you?"

"Sorry."

This wasn't the first time Pepper noticed her friend dishearten. It happened every time weapons or the fighting overseas was brought up; which was more often than not considering Charlie's boss is a retired general and her own is Tony Stark.

"Its no problem," Pepper tried to cheer her friend up. She heard a little of her worn-torn history from Mr. Hayes and understood how a past like that could haunt a person. "I don't always appreciate his work either." She took another bite of her cake and changed the subject, "So what's in that package you're hiding under your chair?"

Charlie's emerald eyes vividly lightened as she said, "You'll never guess!"

"Is it a pair of those navy blue shoes you saw me looking at the other day; the one with the 3" diamond littered black heels; the one that costs more money than I've ever spent on myself," Pepper glared at the girl.

"…no…"

"Charlie! Those were really expensive!"

"Money isn't really a problem for me," Charlie stated not immodestly.

"That's no excuse!" Pepper complained.

"Deal with it."

Pepper's crystal blue eyes glared fiercely, but she eventually sighed in defeat. "Thank you very much then. I shall get you something just as good for your birthday in July."

"You can try," Charlie said, laughing and stealing a piece of the delectable cake.

As far as birthdays went, at the end of the day Pepper would admit her 34th had been one of her greatest.

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

The next night, Charlie awoke to Pepper's face looming above hers. "How long have you been here Charlie?" Confusion flashed across the teen's face before the day's earlier events caught up to her mind. _Tony Stark had gone missing._

Groaning as she stood up from her bent position by Pepper's apartment door, she gave a weak smile, "Does it matter?"

The strong façade Pepper maintained throughout the day quickly crumbled away as the tears she'd been holding back poured out. "They… They said the convoy was attacked. No… No survivors."

"But they didn't find Mr. Stark," Charlie pointed out.

"The company believes, they believe Tony's probably been taken captive… none of them think he's going to make it out alive."

"Mr. Stark will be fine," Charlie countered, gently taking the keys from Pepper's hand to unlock the door. "He's too hard-headed not too. Now come on, I'll make you a cup of tea."

But as a month passed with no sign of the weapons inventor, the rescue missions and scouts went out less and less; and to Charlie's displeasure, Pepper become more despondent with every bit of bad news.

"If I had the power to do something about this I would," Pepper confided to Charlie one afternoon. "But I don't, and Rhodey says he's not sure how much longer he can convince his superiors to continue searching. I don't want to give up, but as of right now I feel as if I have no choice but to."

Charlie felt a stab at her heart. _She_ had the power to do something, she _always_ had the power to do something… so why wasn't she?

"Charlie… Charlie are you ok?" Pepper asked worriedly, noticing the sudden guilt-ridden look on her friend's face.

"Yes…" Charlie answered slowly. She looked around as if in a daze before standing up. "I'm really sorry Pepper, but I have to, I need to go." And Charlotte Potter left with her mind torn asunder.

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

"_Hey Hermione," Charlie spoke softly, grabbing her friend's attention. "Why are we doing this again?" She sat huddled with her knees pressed against her chest while resting her back on the tree behind her. _

_The pair of witches had arrived in the Forest of Dean the night before, barely escaping the clutches of Nagini. It had been months since Bill and Fleur's wedding and weeks since Ron had deserted the supposedly Golden Trio. _

_Charlie watched with weary eyes as Hermione took a kneeling position in front of her, concern coloring her best friend's face. "I'm tired Hermione. I'm tired of running, of fighting… of death." She released a heavy sigh and ducked her head. "I'm just so tired."_

_A moment of silence passed before the bushy-haired brunette answered, "Then let's just stay here." Hermione smiled at Charlie's shocked look. _

"_I mean it," Hermione continued. "My parents are safe in Australia, we both know that Ron's going to eventually come back, and Kreacher practically loves us knowing that we're going to destroy that cursed necklace. Let's ignore our 'destinies' and just live for ourselves."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Let's do it!" Hermione reiterated, her voice growing stronger with passion. "Who cares about everyone else! After all those times they turned their back on you—who needs them! They don't deserve you!"_

"_What are you talking about?!" Charlie shot up from her pity party, anger blushing her cheeks. "What about Remus, Tonks, little Teddy! What about all those people still fighting and resisting at Hogwarts! Neville, George, Ginny, Luna! Are you crazy Hermione!?"_

_Hermione just gave her a cheeky smile and settled down as Charlie had her epiphany._

_Chest heaving, Charlie's heart slowed in rhythm and she slid down the tree trunk saying, "I really don't like you right now."_

"_Well that's not very nice."_

"_I just—"_

"_Honestly," Hermione interrupted, "I was waiting for you to break down."_

"_Really?" Charlie's voice broke._

"_No one, not even Professor Dumbledore, could handle what's on your shoulders," the wisest witch of her age stated. _

"_So what now?"_

"_Now? Now, we keep on protecting and fighting for our friends," Hermione pulled the smaller girl into her arms, "Just like we've always done."_

"_Protect our friends."_

"_And when this is all over, you, Ron, and I will all go to Australia. And my parents will get their memories back, and Ron will finally get his act together and ask me to be his girlfriend, and we will relax and have fun," Hermione smiled at her honorary little sister, "and you will finally meet that man who will sweep you off your feet… and who will somehow survive your overprotective mix-matched family." _

And Charlotte Lily Potter woke up to her past sorrowful laughter ringing in her ears.

Her pure emerald orbs pierced the blackness, and for the first time since she landed in the new land, she cried. She cried helplessly, she cried heartbreakingly, and she cried for lost friends.

For the rest of that night she would stay curled up in her queen sized bed reminiscing and missing her past life, but in the morning her tears would have ceased and a newfound determination would have encompassed her entire being.

Next destination: Afghanistan.

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

It was Chris Hayes who found Charlie. She was caught in the act of leaving a note on his café's counter. "Leaving are you?"

Charlie swung around in defense, but relaxed at the familiar form. "I have something I need to take care of," she informed him, tightening the grip on her red backpack.

"Is that right," Mr. Hayes drawled, leaning against one of the many tables and crossing his arms over his chest.

"It is," the vivid eyes grew hard. "Are you going to try and stop me?"

Mr. Hayes shook his balding head. "I believe you should leave Mr. Stark to the government," he stated, rightfully guessing her self-assigned mission.

"If I have the power to make a difference, then I should put it to good use shouldn't I?" Charlie argued, fists clenching tight.

"Sometimes the toughest fight is to stand down and let others take the lead."

"I'm not good with taking orders," Charlie smirked, remembering prior escapades.

Mr. Hayes paused his debate, eyeing the stubborn girl in front of him. "Why is this so important to you anyway? Last I heard you weren't the biggest fan of Mr. Stark."

"I would do anything for my friends," Charlie stated heavily.

"Even if it costs you your own life?"

"It's my life to give," Charlie gave the older man a faint smile. "A friend once told me that death is simply the next great adventure. I don't fear death. And besides, if I didn't do anything, because I believed it wouldn't help, then I'd end up doing less than nothing, for nothing would change. It never hurts to at least try."

She watched as Mr. Hayes absorbed what she said, tensed when he began walking near, but grinned when her employer tore up her Letter of Resignation. "You're on a leave for vacation," he practically growled at her. "I expect you back here at least in time for your birthday."

Charlie laughed out loud and smiled wickedly. "Whatever you say old man!"

The very next second she apparated on the spot, leaving a flabbergasted café owner in her wake. "…I think I need a drink…"

* * *

**Sorry for the wait, but I hope you guys liked Chapter Two! =] Unfortunately, I was unable to squeeze Stark's introduction in here, but I promise you he'll make his debut next chapter!**

**Thanks for giving this story a chance, and any reviews with comments or suggestions are always welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE: OF RESCUES AND SUSPICIONS**

"I really need to think my plans through," Charlie grumbled as she carefully walked disillusioned through a camp hidden in the mountains of Afghanistan.

She liked to believe she started out ok, apparating from California to New York to Spain to Egypt. She had yet to travel to Afghanistan, so after resting a while to overcome her raging headache and dizziness, she mounted her broom, donned her invisibility cloak, and headed in the general direction of her desired country. Sure, it took at least a week (perhaps more or less considering the time differences), but she made it without a single scratch.

The next part was a bit more difficult, seeing how the Point Me charm wasn't as dependable as she had hoped it would be. Luckily, the spell managed to pull through in the end and got her to the kidnappers' hideout.

That's where she hit problems.

She couldn't just raze the camp because even as powerful as she was, she couldn't take on all the armed men without getting seriously injured. She could give the coordinates to the American government, but they would either raid the place themselves which may lead to Mr. Stark's death, or they would ignore the information not trusting its origin. She briefly thought about letting herself be taken prisoner, but that idea was eventually shot down after noticing zero women in the vicinity.

It took a day, worrying over all the different possibilities, before she just decided to wing the whole thing.

"Bloody idiot," she berated herself after passing a third guard patrol. "What in the world was I thinking – AM I thinking!?" Fortunately, for her sake of mind, Charlie made it to the prisoner's doors right as someone opened it up for mealtime. It was all too easy for the witch to slip behind the men unnoticed and take cover in a corner of the cell.

It was an average size cavern, not that Charlie had even been in one before. Boxes of weaponry and tools littered the tables and floors, and two dirty cots were pushed against one of walls.

"Food's here Mr. Stark," a weary man stated, drawing Charlie's attention as he rubbed his worn eyes beneath silver-rimmed glasses. She immediately pegged him as another prisoner, and couldn't help but compare his shabby appearance to that of Remus Lupin.

"I wouldn't call that 'food' Yinsen," the man who could only be Tony Stark said. He was tinkering with some machinery and completely ignoring the arrival of substance.

Though she knew Mr. Stark had been held in captivity for well over a month, Charlie still expected the man to look his regular classy and professional above average self. But here he stood before her, and all she saw was a ravaged man who craved only his freedom. She saw it in his actions, the way he moved, and it reminded her of her seventh year on the run with Hermione and Ron – that constant sense of adrenaline.

"Well it's all we have," Yinsen said, placing one of the trays down on the counter. He shot a look at the closing steel doors before adding, "We'll need our energy if we want to pull this off."

It took Charlie the next seven mealtimes to figure out what exactly the two men hoped to pull off, and she had to admit their plan was impressive. Pinning all their hopes on an arc-powered device that would energize a heavily armored suit was a pretty bold move.

Wanting to help out but at the same time not wanting to be discovered, Charlie spent her time doing reconnaissance. She succeeded in mapping out the tunnel routes in the cave, calculating the amount of men in the general area, monitoring the two prisoners health, and sneaking them more food and water when required.

During mealtimes and check-ins, when the door stood halfway open, the witch would to place wards down in the entryway to alert her when people approached. She thought about placing a Muggle repelling charm on the steel door, but wasn't sure how it would react with Mr. Stark and Yinsen in the room.

As for herself, a small notice-me-not charm brought her enough space in the cavern to live as comfortably as she could. It was a stroke of genius that before landing herself in the cave, she had cast an undetectable extension spell on her red backpack, storing enough imperishable foods that would last Ron at least a month; so getting food and water wasn't a problem for her.

She may have used her time wisely and efficiently, but eventually Charlie ran out of things to accomplish.

Engineering and mechanics were not subjects she handled before, so as much as the girl wanted to help the men work on the armor she couldn't. She also couldn't risk taking out some the wardens when that could lead to an increase in security. And honestly, Charlie was hesitant to leave the men in fear that something would happen when she wasn't there. She had grown to care for them.

Yinsen, she found out, was an innocent professor forced under these conditions through threat of his family. He acted kind and cautious, but underneath it all Charlie sensed he seemed resigned to his situation.

Tony Stark, the multibillionaire playboy, just turned out to be a pretty lonely person questioning his place in the world. He was obviously very stubborn and bossy, though that aspect was understandable, yet he was also very motivated and driven—an aspect Charlie couldn't help but admire.

The day Raza, the leader of the group, led a bunch of armed men in the room Charlie wasn't surprised. She was actually amazed they hadn't come earlier since it was pretty obvious Mr. Stark wasn't building that missile weapon they wanted. Lucky for her wards, she had time to ditch the invisibility cloak to disillusion herself; this would make wand movements easier if she needed to interfere with anything.

Standing ahead of everyone else, Charlie scored the best view and watched the scene unfold: Raza tapping the arc reactor on Mr. Stark's chest, questioning turned into yelling as he tried to find his answers, and finally the man pulling a coal from the fire and threatening Yinsen with torture.

That would not do in Charlie's book.

The teenage witch made her move when Mr. Stark stepped forward and drew everyone's attention. As they all turned to face the prisoner, Charlie quickly muttered the confundus curse on Raza while rushing to whisper in his ear, "You have more important things to do than waste your time here. Five more days, give them five more days to finish your weapon."

By this point, all the men were looking at Raza wondering what he would choose to do next; it was only Tony and Yinsen who noticed his unfocused eyes. A minute of complete silence passed until one of the grunt men shifted his gun, earning the awakening of his leader.

"This is wasting my time," Raza snarled, dropping the burning coal in front of Yinsen. He looked around the room in disgust before stating, "Five days, I will give you five more days to finish my weapon." It went without saying what would happen if they didn't.

When the grunts were gone, Tony and Yensin exchanged relieved looks. Five days were more than enough. They could do this.

Charlie was just happy everyone still lived alive and uninjured.

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

Ho Yinsen was a smart man. Prior to his capture he lived his life as a physicist, engineer, professor, and loving family man. A pacifist by nature, he was very passionate towards teaching the next generation.

Of course, his abduction changed everything. His family ruthlessly murdered, not even having the decency to spare his little girl Mahsa, and his work turned into constructing weapons. It was sickening, it was hell, and he hated himself because of it.

Needless to say, it was a kind of blessing when Tony Stark appeared. But it wasn't saving the man's life that made the difference, no, instead it was convincing the genius to fight to live. It gave both of them a goal to shoot for.

He wasn't sure how much time passed while working with Stark, but one day he realized someone else was subtly helping the two of them. Canned food and clean water appeared beside their cots whenever they woke up, the room ceased to become freezing during the nights, and one day new clothes appeared for the both of them. Sure all the actions were small but added together produced a lot.

It wasn't until Raza held that piece of flaming coal in front of his face that Yinsen finally witnessed proof for his helping-man theory. Everyone else may have missed it, but to the man who called Gulmira his hometown, the vivid streak of dark purple was quite hard to overlook. He also felt that shift in the air, causing the flames on the coal to sway precariously – at that moment he knew their helper was right there next to him, causing the sudden change in events.

So the question changed from "Was there a secret helper?" to "Who is helping us?" and "How the hell are they doing all of this?"

Good fortune found Yinsen the following mealtime when an area in the room that was left untouched, unused, unseen and unnoticed by everyone suddenly appeared in his vision. For that next second he swore he saw a red backpack and black lumpy sleeping bag lying carefully on the ground, but after the next blink it was gone.

A God, a wizard, a mutant – Yinsen had no clue who their mysterious helper was, but he had a huge lead and he wasn't going to waste taking a chance.

He took the risk when Tony fell asleep.

Not knowing whether the 'person' was awake or not, he steadily made his way over to that obscure area of dirt, and sat down a good five feet from the wall. "I know you're there."

He sat, waiting for something, anything to happen, but nothing did. Knowing he was taking a long shot anyway, he kept speaking words. "I don't understand how, but I know you're the one who's been helping us out. Members of the Ten Rings would never waste good food and water on us, we may feel quite warm and cozy in the morning but everything we touch is freezing, and the clothes… no guard would ever give prisoners new clothes. I just don't understand why you're helping us. By the way you seem to go about escape would be a cinch for you, so why haven't you gone?"

Yinsen sighed heavily and removed his lens to rub at his eyes. "If you are staying to help with Stark's and my escape from here like I feel you are, can I selfishly ask for one thing?" he questioned the wall. "If our plan goes south and something bad happens, I want you to save Stark. He has far more left to live for than I do, and… And I just want to be reunited with my family. Please, that is my only request."

The silence seemed suddenly louder, and before Yinsen felt the need to start questioning his sanity he quickly made his way to his cot. Collapsing in one movement, he fell asleep within the following ten minutes.

Later, when he awoke, he would find beside his bed a very detailed map of the caverns with a rosy red apple on top. _You are not crazy._

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

"There's not enough time," Charlie heard Yinsen say. They made it to the fifth day, but the doors were blown, their cover ceased to exist, and the metal suit was taking its sweet time to charge.

"You need more time," he said to Stark while picking up one of the dropped machine guns. "I'm going to buy you more time."

He raced to the destroyed entryway and paused before completely leaving the room. "Remember what we talked about," he said aloud, "take care of Stark."

Charlie's astonishment at Yinsen's reckless actions was the only thing that allowed the man a getaway. She couldn't believe him—how dare he pull off a stunt like this! She hurriedly raced after homicidal man, assured that Stark's suit would be ready by the time people came looking for him.

Making it halfway to the exit, a large group of men appeared in front of her by way of an adjoining passageway. Not wasting precious seconds she drew her wand and shot off a round of stunners, dropping over half the group. Her Protego shield managed to defend her from the instinctive trigger friendly response, and she dodged around the flailing limbs to attack again from behind.

The witch just managed to fell the last attacker when the ominous sound of multiple machine guns rang out and echoed off the walls. "No…" But it was all too obvious what happened when a troop of heavily armed grunts stormed past her.

Sprinting, Charlie arrived just in time to banish Raza outside before he took the kill shot to Yinsen's head. In the rush of anger, the disillusionment charm broke and Charlie was revealed in front of the pained martyr.

"Yinsen! Yinsen, you have to hang in there," Charlie cried to him. She saw the chest littered with numerous bullet holes and cursed herself for not bothering to learn past the basics of healing magic. "Please!"

Unfocused eyes leveled upon her and wonderment lit the beat face. "You are… the helper."

Charlie tried to smile back, but the teary tears ruined the otherwise positive effect. Shooting a pain-reducing spell at his chest she said, "I'm sorry I didn't make it in time."

"My choice," decisiveness dripped from the fading voice. "It's ok. It's my time."

Those seemed to be the magic words because not a second later three things happened simultaneously. Death appeared in a silhouette beside her Master, Raza shakily found his way back to the front of the cave, and Tony's grisly armor joined the party.

Raza had his eyes fixated on the kneeling visible form of Charlie, Tony only glanced at the girl once before his worried gaze landed on his friend, and Death moved closer to the dying scientist.

"Who are y—!" Charlie watched as Raza's question was cut off by a missile launched by Stark and took the moment to conceal herself yet again.

Tony didn't seem to care about her disappearance as he struggled to kneel. "Come on, we got to go. We have a plan, let's stick to it."

Yinsen closed his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer. "This was always the plan Stark."

"Come on, we're going to go see your family. Get up."

"My family is dead. I am going to see them now Stark. It's ok. I want this."

Charlie and Tony could only watch as Yinsen's harsh breaths ceased. Only the Master of Death could see a golden light shoot from the broken body to the shade made of black.

"…protect Stark…" Charlie heard before Death faded away.

"But Stark doesn't require any protection," Charlie thought as she watched a revengeful man utterly destroy the camp; she could see zero hesitation in his flamethrower movements. Of course she was prepared to intervene when things began looking dicey, but in the end there was no need when his suit began to fly.

Taking note of the direction Stark seemed to aim for, she headed back into the depths of the cave and retrieved the red backpack she accidently left behind in her haste.

Taking one last look around the room she had been holed up in and preparing to apparate away, Charlie stopped when an item partly hidden under Yinsen's sorry excuse for a pillow caught her attention.

Procuring it revealed a small photograph. Yinsen was easily recognizable even with a full set of brown hair and spiffy suit, and beside him stood a lady dressed in fine blue. In between the adults stood a small child, her hands holding on to her parents.

Charlie had found his family picture.

"Why?" she asked, knowing she would never get the answer.

Gazing at the picture for a few extra minutes, she steeled herself for what she knew she had to do next and pocketed the token. Tracing her steps back to where Yinsen lay, she winced at the sight but managed to mutter, "Levicorpus."

Charlie wished she could've taken his body back to his hometown, possibly find the graves of his wife and child, but she didn't know where Gulmira lay and flying to the base of the mountain with him was already hard enough. As such, she travelled a good three miles before gently resting his body on the soft ground.

Standing in front of the sharp rocky wall, Charlie took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then blasted a huge dent in the base. With a gentle wave of her wand, she eased the professor into the enclosure and laid him to rest.

Kneeling, she conjured a sheet to cover his body and took the family picture back from her pocket. Selfishly wanting a piece of Yinsen to remember him by, she decided to make a copy of the aging photograph and placed the original on top of the sheet.

She may not have known the man for long, but she understood just how strong and sincere he was.

Hitting a higher level of the cliff with a reductor curse, she watched in slow motion as huge gouges of rock hid the body from sight. Using the biggest one as a headstone, she slowly and precisely wrote out words the whole world deserved to know. A moment of silence later she flew off in search of Stark.

Yinsen

Lived and died a hero

An honorable husband, father, and friend

We will always remember

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

"Oh, bloody hell!" Charlie exclaimed as she finally spotted Tony Stark quite a while later. It would seem that she spent more time that she thought with retrieving her red backpack and saying goodbye to Yinsen because Tony laid at least four miles from where his armor crashed 12 miles from the destroyed campsite.

Facedown in the hot sand, Tony wasn't moving.

Cursing like a sailor she gripped the front of her Firebolt tighter, sharply angled the broom towards the ground, and landed lightly on her feet. After packing up her now unneeded cloak, she fell to her knees to gently push the heavy man onto his back.

Stark did not look good. Scrapes and blood littered his face and body, and judging by the look of his left arm that was broken too.

Holding her hair to the side, the witch bent her ear over his face and managed to hear slow shallow breaths. Thankful for at least that, she touched his forehead to get a read on his temperature and flinched at the heat.

She should have expected this. After what had to have been months stuck in that cave, Stark's lack of proper health care finally caught up to him at the worst possible moment. That wasn't even taking into factor the injuries he sustained from the fight and crash, or even the burden of the strength of the sun.

Knowing she needed to work fast, Charlie's first move was to conjure a tent to shield him further from the rays of the yellow ball in the sky. Next, she pulled a worn blanket from her backpack and placed a cooling charm on it. When those tasks were complete, she dried his sweaty clothes and levitated his unconscious body carefully onto the cold sheet inside the cover.

Focusing intently on her power, Charlie pointed her wand at the broken arm and intoned, "Episkey." With the limb healed, she charmed a sling to prevent movement to further aggravate the sensitive bones.

Checking on his temperature again, she smiled with the improvement and decided the last thing to do was rehydrate the man. So taking out her eternally cold water bottle, she placed enough water to fill the cap and dribbled the liquid onto Stark's chapped lips and down his raw throat. Charlie did this twice before she finally got a groaning response.

Pausing in her ministrations, she watched as two glazed over eyes tried to focus on her. Smiling even though he might not see it, she said, "Mr. Stark, everything is going to be ok. You're safe now."

She didn't get a response, but that didn't deter her from holding the water in front of his face and saying, "You need to drink some more water, can you do it?"

A very slow nod was all she needed to encourage her to help him sit up. He took a few mouthfuls with her guiding hand, but exhaustion quickly took over. It didn't take long for him to pass out again.

Charlie got him resituated in a lying position, and sighed in relief that her companion was recovering. She was glad the crisis was averted, but at the same time prayed that he wouldn't remember her when he awoke; that would just cause all sorts of trouble.

Falling back into habit, Charlie walked in a circular parameter around the tent and warded the area. A few minutes later she took to the skies hoping to find civilization or American military patrols, either would work for her.

It was pure luck that she spotted a chopper about 15 klicks away. She hovered next to the noisy thing, making sure to ID the American uniforms, before returning to Stark and the tent. Once there she hastily took down the wards, got rid of the tent, and shot red sparks into the sky. There was no way the airmen would miss it.

After getting back on her Firebolt she expelled a wide blast of wind to erase any evidence of footsteps, and finally, she disillusioned the blanket and cast a small "Rennervate" on Stark.

Not five minute later two black choppers drew closer and landed near the now awakened man.

Charlie smiled at the recovery team's relieved looks and Stark's confused one. Her job was complete.

**~HP~AVENGERS~HP~**

"Are you really ok?" Pepper ventured to ask her boss as Happy waited in line at Burger King. To her eyes Tony radiated fatigue and couldn't imagine how or why he'd want to have a press conference the same day he returned home.

"I'm _fine_," he reiterated, slight annoyance creeping into his voice. But contrary to his words, he shifted his sore arm and winced at a sudden flare of pain in his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Pepper asked, not giving up. Tony's random bouts of anger did little to scare her anymore

She watched as Tony's eyes left gazing out the window to stare sightlessly at her. His breaths seemed to become faster and heavier with the blaring silence in the car.

Suddenly worried and regretful for the question, Pepper laid a calming hand on his shoulder and lowered her head near his. "Mr. Stark… Mr. Stark it's ok. You're safe now."

"Everything's going to be ok."

Slowly, Stark's hazy eyes turned focused at Pepper's choice of words and eventually narrowed in thought. "Someone else told me that," he stated.

"When they rescued you?" Pepper wondered, pulling her hand away from his body.

"No, before."

"So someone helped you," the strawberry blonde thought out loud. "Do you remember who?"

"I collapsed," Tony said instead, following his memories. "I escaped the cave but crashed in the sand."

"Tony…"

"I was alright and started walking, but the sun just got to me. One minute I was heading up a sand dune, the next…" he looked at Pepper.

"It was a girl, long black hair, couldn't be older than 18."

Pepper looked shocked. It couldn't be… but it would make sense. Charlie disappeared the day after Pepper basically gave up on Tony and only yesterday did she return looking pale, exhausted, and... haunted just like Tony. But still, that couldn't, wouldn't, that didn't make sense… right? How would an 18-year-old girl even manage to find Tony when more distinguished people failed?

"She had the most vivid green eyes I've ever seen and an English accent to boot."

Pepper couldn't mask the shock in her eyes, "You have got to be kidding me."

* * *

**Thanks for everyone choosing to follow this story, and especially to those who took the time to comment and review =] You guys are fantastic!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I have already started work on the next one. :P One of the early scenes takes place with Tony, Pepper, and Charlie all in the same room... should be interesting if I do say so myself.**

**Thank you for taking the time to read this! And please, any comments, reviews, or constructive criticism is truly appreciated =]**


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